Jamillah is an excellent nurse manager who goes above and beyond for her staff and patients. She is kind and compassionate to all patients, listens with empathy, and sets appropriate boundaries. She understands the unique scenarios that our oncology patients and their families go through. She is able to give endless empathy.

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Jamillah Washington began her career at Penn Medicine in 2007 and has held various leadership roles within the organization during her tenure. Her various roles have included Assistant Nurse Manager of Labor and Delivery at Hospital of University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Nurse Manager of Labor and Delivery at Pennsylvania Hospital, and her current role as Nurse Manager of Silverstein 7 and Ravdin 6 at HUP. Anyone who knows Jamillah knows that even though she is tiny, she is larger than life in her leadership capabilities. Her most recent accomplishment was completing the inaugural cohort of the Nurse Leader Ethics Fellowship.  

When Jamillah began her Nurse Manager journey on Silverstein 7 in 2021, she was hired to manage one Women’s Health floor that held various female populations. What she was tasked with upon hire was the splitting of this floor and this patient population into two distinctly different units with vastly different populations that would be cared for by one staff. On Silverstein 7, she would be responsible for the Antepartum/Postpartum population, while on Ravdin 6 she would be responsible for the Gyn/Gyn-Oncology population, as well as overflow surgical and medicine. Jamillah was no doubt greeted by an anxious staff that was extremely concerned about this split, and how their jobs would be affected by the imminent changes. Jamillah, known for her transparency with staff, was honest and open from day number one on the job, which helped to ease the minds of her staff.  

The sole leader on both her units, Jamillah held 100% accountability for the logistics of the move to Ravdin 6. Following a seamless DAAC survey, Silverstein 7’s patient population was split into two different floors in February 2023 with the plan that both floors would be cared for by one floating staff maintaining competence in both populations. I believe Jamillah’s staff is the only team in the hospital that is caring for two entirely different specialty populations on two different floors in two different buildings and is led by only one nurse manager.  

Following this split, Jamillah really shone by always being visible to her staff on both floors. It is impossible for one person to be in two places at once, but Jamillah makes it look possible every day. From early morning to late evening, Jamillah is consistently available to answer her staff’s questions, to troubleshoot any issues, and to always assist with any necessary service recovery. While Jamillah is highly visible with the staff, she is also very present with the patients on both of her units. If you cannot find her, she is typically in a patient room. Patients are always happy to see Jamillah and she has an innate ability to build rapport with them very quickly. Patients appreciate how genuine Jamillah is when she talks to them, and how she always meets them where they are.

This last year, Ravdin 6 had a challenging young patient who was very sick. Jamillah built an excellent rapport with this patient and her family, so much so that when this patient passed away, her Mother called Jamillah to invite her to the funeral services, which she did attend. Months after the funeral, Jamillah assisted in coordinating the adoption of the family for the Christmas holiday and even delivered the gifts to the children. For this family, Jamillah was a light during an exceedingly difficult time of grief and distress.

Even more recently, Jamillah was essential in coordinating the care and safety of an obstetrical trauma patient on Silverstein 7. When this patient’s baby passed away, Jamillah collaborated closely with Security leadership and Pastoral Care to coordinate a small funeral to be held in the HUP Main Chapel. I know this patient and her family will never forget all that Jamillah did for them during their time of immense grief and hardship. 

Aside from her immense visibility, what also makes Jamillah stand out as a leader is her ability to grow leaders. Jamillah has high expectations for her staff and does not like to see her staff fall by the wayside. She encourages and motivates all her staff members to be their best selves and to grow their careers within the Penn Medicine organization. Jamillah identifies leaders within her staff and mentors them to help them grow. One nurse, a CNII with intention to level to CNIII, states: “Under Jamillah’s leadership, I have been encouraged to undertake multiple leadership opportunities, most recently training to become a charge nurse for our units. Jamillah is extremely encouraging, supportive, and ensures that nurses have the resources they need to be successful at the goal they hope to achieve.” I have read many times before that the job of a leader is to grow more leaders, and that speaks to Jamillah’s leadership style. Jamillah also formally mentors leaders within the organization. She is currently mentoring a Nurse Manager at HUP Cedar.

Next up for Jamillah, she will be representing HUP at a Nurse Leadership retreat in Arlington, Virginia this summer where she plans to focus on tackling nurse retention with decreased nurse-patient ratios. Jamillah is an asset to both her staff and Penn Medicine as an institution, and her vision is critical to the nursing profession during these challenging times.